Lymphokines are protein or glycoprotein factors which are generally produced upon stimulation of T-cell cultures by mitogens or alloantigens. They display a variety of biological activities including: inhibiting DNA synthesis, inducing suppressor cells, inhibiting T-cell proliferation, inhibiting B cell immunoglobulin production, inhibiting B-cell growth. Because the lymphokines are often made by short-term cell cultures, it is often difficult to obtain sufficient material to do biochemical characterizations and compare various factors to each other.
The specificity of the lymphokines has raised great hopes for their use in human therapy. They can be used individually to stimulate underrepresented cell types or to inhibit growth of certain cells which may be proliferating in an uncontrolled manner. In combinations they may be able to modulate complex responses such as immune responses. Thus there is a continuing need and interest in the medical arts for new members of the lymphokine arsenal.